Lassen Park Foundation announces 2014 Youth Camping Grants

The Lassen Park Foundation (LPF) has announced it will accept applications for 25 grants of $1,000 to school and youth groups. Deadline to apply is May 1.

"The program is funded by individual and corporate contributions, and it's grown each year," LPF Chairman John Koeberer said.

In 2013, the LPF awarded 27 grants totaling $21,632. To qualify for a grant, group leaders must establish that their kids need financial assistance. They must also organize the camping trip, provide adult supervision and insurance.

Last year, groups awarded the grants included youth from eight to 18 years old from Shasta, Tehama, Butte, Lassen, Plumas and Sacramento counties as well as from the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

"The kind of kids who benefit most from this program are from low-income, urban or rural families. They're often at risk or in difficult family situations," said Executive Director Kristen Gray. "This is often their first time camping and their first visit to a national park, but as one child wrote to us, it was important to her life, as being out in nature is where she's happiest."

The grants pay for camping supplies, transportation and food for nearly 500 kids and their chaperones. Koeberer said Lassen Volcanic National Park provides close to 100 days of camping and activities for these groups each year. The kids learn how to camp, participate in guided hikes, work on service projects and learn about such concepts as volcanology, glaciation, astrobiology, fire ecology and climate.

Youth who visited the site of the Reading Fire in the Twin Lakes area, last year, were excited by learning about fire dependent and resistant plant species and the role of fire on natural landscapes. Practical experiences like this make learning about science more relevant to them when they return to school.

"Kids who are otherwise unmotivated, gain a new appreciation for nature, build self-confidence, independence, teamwork, a sense of ownership of the national park and a love of the outdoors," Koeberer said. They leave inspired by what they've done. This is often life changing for them, making this one of the most gratifying programs we do."

The Lassen Park Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that provides philanthropic support to preserve and interpret the natural and cultural resources of Lassen Volcanic National Park and its environs, for present and future generations.